Pulling up the Jamia Millia Islamia University Proctor for not forwarding the name of a student for registration for doing Ph.D. on grounds of two flimsy cases of indiscipline, the Delhi High Court has asked the University to complete the formality.
The University's Board of Studies had cleared Ashraf Kamal for doing a Ph.D. on “Political Empowerment of Muslims - A Comparative Study of Two Select Districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” which was sponsored by Dr. K.R Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies.
However, the Proctor sat over Ashraf's papers and did not inform him about the reasons for not forwarding his name for registration with the Centre. Due to this, the applicant, who made repeated requests, could not start the research work on the topic selected by him.
Ultimately Ashraf filed an application under the Right to Information Act, seeking the reasons for not forwarding his name for registration.
In reply, the University said his name could not be recommended for the research work as there was a ban on his entry in the campus for allegedly indulging in indiscipline on occasions. The Varsity further said he was let-off with a warning for creating disturbance in the University's library in 2005 and that the second time, he was debarred from entering the campus after he was found guilty of parking his car in a no-parking zone in the campus.
Ashraf had challenged the decision to debar him from entering the campus, submitting that action was taken without giving him an opportunity to put forward his defence as he had not been issued a show-cause notice before being punished.
The petitioner had also accused the Proctor of trying to destroy his academic career at the instance of his brother, who allegedly wanted to settle scores with him.
Quashing the two action against the student petitioner, Justice Kailash Gambhir said: “The act of the Proctor is completely beyond the comprehension of this court, as it is an absolutely draconian decision taken by him to ban the entry of the petitioner in the University where he has been a student for the last so many years.”
Ashraf has studied in the campus since Class IX. He had cleared his master's degree in 2008.
Justice Gambhir added: “This court would only like to observe that teachers are revered as gods in our culture and are responsible for shaping the lives of their students, and the sanctity and the status of this position should be maintained.”
